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Mar. 27—With this much recognition from Gatorade, Kenyon Aguino ought to be eligible to drink the product free for the rest of his life.
Gatorade sure is fond of Aguino.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Class 5A state champion Volcano Vista entered extremely rare territory last week, when Gatorade — for the third season in a row — named him New Mexico's Athlete of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
Aguino has been instrumental in each of the Hawks' last four state championship teams.
As a senior, he averaged 20.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists for Volcano Vista.
He leaves Volcano Vista with 2,154 points.
He already has signed to play at the University of Montana.
Aguino has maintained a weighted 4.36 GPA. The only other Volcano Vista Hawk to be recognized with this award by Gatorade was Ja'Kwon Hill, who played with Aguino on the 2022 championship team.
Between Hill and Aguino, Volcano Vista has won the last four Gatorade awards.
SALATA OUT: Wally Salata led Rio Rancho High School to one of the most unlikely boys basketball championships of this century, leading the Rams, an 11 seed, to the Class 5A title in 2016.
On Tuesday, Salata was, in essence, fired.
"I did not resign," he told the Journal in a short conversation Wednesday morning. He added that the school told him it wanted to move the program in another direction.
Salata coached the Rams for 16 seasons. In March of 2016, he coached Rio Rancho to an extremely unlikely championship, where the Rams defeated Carlsbad in the final.
District athletic director Todd Resch said the district immediately will begin a search for a new head coach. Salata took over the Rio Rancho program in 2009.
MORE TOURNEY JOURNEYS: Rio Rancho is hosting major baseball and softball tournaments starting Thursday.
The Sal Puentes Invitational has a stellar field, as it usually does, headlined by the two teams who just met Monday in the metro baseball final, La Cueva and Rio Rancho.
The Bears are in the opener Thursday, at 10 a.m. against Albuquerque Academy.
Carlsbad meets St. Pius at 12:30 p.m., followed by Goddard-Rio Rancho at 3 p.m., and Artesia-Cleveland at 5:30 p.m.
Four of the top seven ranked teams in 5A are entered: La Cueva at No. 1, Rio Rancho at 2, Cleveland at 5, Carlsbad at 7. Artesia is the top-ranked team in 4A according to the first coaches' poll of the season. Academy is ranked fourth.
The semifinals are 3 and 5:30 p.m. Friday, with the final set for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Down the road at Eagle Ridge Middle School, Rio Rancho softball is hosting the Kristin Griego Tournament. Five of the top eight ranked teams in 5A, including No. 2 La Cueva, the metro champion, plus No. 4 Cibola, No. 6 Alamogordo, No. 7 Atrisco Heritage and the host Rams, ranked eighth, are in the 18-team field.
There will be heavy activity on all four fields at Eagle Ridge. The semifinals are 8 and 10 a.m. Saturday, with the title games at 4 p.m.
BOOMING START: Although West Las Vegas, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A, is not in the Griego field, it is important to note that the Dons' star freshman, Malie Satete — who broke New Mexico's single-season home run record last spring as an eighth-grader — is off to a blazing start.
She swatted nine home runs in West Las Vegas' first six games.
THIS AND THAT: Some track and field athletes from New Mexico were in Arizona last weekend for the prominent for the 85th Chandlar Rotary Invitational. Rio Rancho's Xavier Martinez was the champion in the 1,600-meter run. ... Las Cruces' longtime head coach baseball coach, Gil Padilla, recently won his 400th career game, and he is one the 10 winningest coaches in New Mexico history.
Continue reading...
Gatorade sure is fond of Aguino.
The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Class 5A state champion Volcano Vista entered extremely rare territory last week, when Gatorade — for the third season in a row — named him New Mexico's Athlete of the Year for the 2024-25 season.
Aguino has been instrumental in each of the Hawks' last four state championship teams.
As a senior, he averaged 20.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists for Volcano Vista.
He leaves Volcano Vista with 2,154 points.
He already has signed to play at the University of Montana.
Aguino has maintained a weighted 4.36 GPA. The only other Volcano Vista Hawk to be recognized with this award by Gatorade was Ja'Kwon Hill, who played with Aguino on the 2022 championship team.
Between Hill and Aguino, Volcano Vista has won the last four Gatorade awards.
SALATA OUT: Wally Salata led Rio Rancho High School to one of the most unlikely boys basketball championships of this century, leading the Rams, an 11 seed, to the Class 5A title in 2016.
On Tuesday, Salata was, in essence, fired.
"I did not resign," he told the Journal in a short conversation Wednesday morning. He added that the school told him it wanted to move the program in another direction.
Salata coached the Rams for 16 seasons. In March of 2016, he coached Rio Rancho to an extremely unlikely championship, where the Rams defeated Carlsbad in the final.
District athletic director Todd Resch said the district immediately will begin a search for a new head coach. Salata took over the Rio Rancho program in 2009.
MORE TOURNEY JOURNEYS: Rio Rancho is hosting major baseball and softball tournaments starting Thursday.
The Sal Puentes Invitational has a stellar field, as it usually does, headlined by the two teams who just met Monday in the metro baseball final, La Cueva and Rio Rancho.
The Bears are in the opener Thursday, at 10 a.m. against Albuquerque Academy.
Carlsbad meets St. Pius at 12:30 p.m., followed by Goddard-Rio Rancho at 3 p.m., and Artesia-Cleveland at 5:30 p.m.
Four of the top seven ranked teams in 5A are entered: La Cueva at No. 1, Rio Rancho at 2, Cleveland at 5, Carlsbad at 7. Artesia is the top-ranked team in 4A according to the first coaches' poll of the season. Academy is ranked fourth.
The semifinals are 3 and 5:30 p.m. Friday, with the final set for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Down the road at Eagle Ridge Middle School, Rio Rancho softball is hosting the Kristin Griego Tournament. Five of the top eight ranked teams in 5A, including No. 2 La Cueva, the metro champion, plus No. 4 Cibola, No. 6 Alamogordo, No. 7 Atrisco Heritage and the host Rams, ranked eighth, are in the 18-team field.
There will be heavy activity on all four fields at Eagle Ridge. The semifinals are 8 and 10 a.m. Saturday, with the title games at 4 p.m.
BOOMING START: Although West Las Vegas, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 3A, is not in the Griego field, it is important to note that the Dons' star freshman, Malie Satete — who broke New Mexico's single-season home run record last spring as an eighth-grader — is off to a blazing start.
She swatted nine home runs in West Las Vegas' first six games.
THIS AND THAT: Some track and field athletes from New Mexico were in Arizona last weekend for the prominent for the 85th Chandlar Rotary Invitational. Rio Rancho's Xavier Martinez was the champion in the 1,600-meter run. ... Las Cruces' longtime head coach baseball coach, Gil Padilla, recently won his 400th career game, and he is one the 10 winningest coaches in New Mexico history.
Continue reading...
